


Neil's new dream

by Fluffed_crust



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Aka only Neil's dad dies, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Neil Perry Protection Squad, Neil is alive and happy, Sickfic, and his mom moves to the coast with her secret lesbian lover, no one you care about dies, resident straight boy still the worst, this story is freeform so i will be adding more tags as i go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:07:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27982026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffed_crust/pseuds/Fluffed_crust
Summary: Neil's dad is dead, and with him goes all of the expectations of Neil. He now has full permission to find his own dream, but will the decision he makes be the right one?
Relationships: Charlie Dalton/Steven Meeks, Todd Anderson/Neil Perry
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1: Bad News?

**Author's Note:**

> YO just finished my first final (worth like 100% of my grade so that nervous energy is being put to good use with this funky little fic.  
> I love the dead poets a lot yall, I watch It once a year at least. Anyways this was supposed to be a crackfic but the planning kept slowly getting less cracky as time went on and now I guess it's a normal dramatic and cute fic <3

"Please bring Mr.Perry to the front gates, his mom is there with some rather unfortunate news." Mr.Nolan told the dean. Mr.Nolan's face was usually cast in an annoyed frown but today his lips were pressed into a thin line.

The dean moved quickly down the hallway. Rambunctious teenage boys were all over the place, teasing and pushing each other playfully.   
"Get back to work!" He yelled, and the boys all immediately scattered back to their rooms.

Once he reached Neil Perry's room he knocked on the door twice before opening it. Neil and his roommate were sitting on their beds, laughing with each other. Neil swiftly quieted his giggling and turned towards the dean. 

"Neil Perry please follow me to the front entrance, your mom is waiting for you".

Todd shot Neil a concerned look, his knit eyebrows saying 'did you do something?'  
Neil returned his look with a small shrug and a reassuring smile. Then he rose from his bed and followed the dean out the door.

Once they hit the front door the dean opened the door and told Neil the door would be unlocked for whenever he finished talking with his mother.

"Oh Neil!" Mrs.Perry ran from the side of her taxi to enclose him in a tight hug.

"Hi mom" Neil returned it, "what brings you down here?".

"Oh darling, it's your father, he had a heart attack and the doctors couldn't save him." She brought a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed her eyes with it.  
Neil noticed that the rag remained completely dry.   
"Dear there is something else too, I can't afford to keep the house. I'll be selling it and moving to the countryside with an old friend of mine. You can stay at Wellton or you can come with me and move to the small highschool there! It's nice I promise."

Neil didn't need to think about the decision at all.  
"I'm not leaving Wellton."

Mrs.Perry put a hand on her son's face and searched his eyes. His eyes were steadfast and confident, she knew he would be fine.  
Satisfied she removed her hand from her son's face and turned towards her taxi,   
"I'll come to visit again before I leave, I might ask for your help packing up and getting rid of things in the house." She opened the door.

"Hey, mom," 

Mrs.Perry turned to look at her son.

"Does this mean I still have to go to Harvard?".

"No darling," she sighed "That was your father's dream, all you need to do, is find your own dream and be happy."

She closed the door and the taxi drove into the distance. Neil stood in the chilly air for a while, just, looking at the stars. They looked so hopeful tonight.


	2. I don't really want to talk about it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil gets back to his room and has a talk with his lovely roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, I wrote this at 5am after an all nighter <3  
> These boys have been provided me w sooooo much serotonin these days. I've spent quite a bit of time imagining the things that I wrote happening before actually getting a word on the page.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading! Stay hydrated!

When Neil arrived back at his dorm room, Todd was sitting on his desk, staring off into the space above his notebook. Whatever daydream he was caught in looked so cozy. A warm smile grew on Neil's lips just looking at him. He paused to soak in the moment for a second before closing the bedroom door.   
The gentle click was all it took for Todd's head to snap up to look at Neil. A face full of worry melting to a comfortable inquisitive look in a nano-second. Neil smiling back at his roommate like he hadn't been gone at all.

"So... What was that about?" Todd turned towards his roommate, leaning over the back of his uncomfortable plastic chair.

Neil turned to his bed and straightened out his bedsheets while he thought of what to say. Fluffing his pillow, he talked without looking back,   
"Oh, y'know, family business and such",

It's not that Neil did not trust Todd, he'd trust Todd with his life, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous that Todd might be disappointed in him for being so relieved. He decided he should still share the happy news.

"I don't have to go to medical school anymore; I can do whatever I want!" Neil stirred at the thought, it didn't really feel real yet.

Todd sat up straight, "Neil that's wonderful!"

Neil looked over his shoulder, eyes bright and smiling giddily.   
"I know~!"

"So... what are you going to do?" Todd asked innocuously.

Neil's smile disappeared for a moment. He had spent so many years stressing over grades just to fulfill his fathers dreams, it would feel weird to throw that all away now. Neil knew he wanted to act, he always had. For some reason now he didn't feel as confident that he'd be able to have a stable career as an actor as he did on the stage at the end of last semester. For a moment Neil wondered if his father would have changed his mind if he would have been able to see Neil's performance. Neil's eyes shadowed over and he sighed wistfully before coming back to the present. His dad would've disowned him on the spot if he had known about the play. 

"I mean, I'll keep my grades up and my options open", Neil sat down on his bed. Legs stretching comfortably and arms connecting at the hands behind his head, "I'll explore what's out there!".

"Y-Yeah Neil, I'm sure you'll be great in whatever you do." Todd slumped to hide his heated cheeks between his crossed arms, eyes meeting Neil's for a moment before jumping to look anywhere but that handsome smile.

Neil's eyes searched Todd's face for a moment before a helpless chuckle escaped him.  
"Thanks Todd~" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read somewhere that you're supposed to write two chapters ahead of where you're posting, too guess what I did lol ^0^. So they'll be queued up and uploaded prolly while I'm asleep. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter, the next one is cute too <3 It's also quite a bit longer, which is what I'm going to strive for.


	3. Neil Perry's Day Off (part 1, morning)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang tries to get Neil out of bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! Hope you're doing well. This chapter made me realize most of my favourite dead poet dynamics are just, nerds and their government assigned extroverts. At the time of writing it is currently Christmas ^0^ so if you're celebrating that or any other holiday this season I hope it's going well! Recently found some pinecones outside and I'm so PUMPED about it. That and I found MarioParty and Nintendogs at my secondhand game-store. I'll stop rambling now, enjoy!

Neil had not slept at all the night before. There were too many thoughts running around, he was powerless to stop them. He re-lived all of his good, bad, and cruel memories of his father. Then he'd pondered all the opportunities waiting in the future. It made Neil feel more nervous than anything, or maybe that was just the insomnia. Neil didn't even bother opening his eyes until a fully dressed Todd was sitting on his bed and shaking him gently, singing his name to rouse him from the dead.

"Neil~ we have 23 minutes to get to breakfast, c'mon! They have those little sausage things you like!".

Eyes open, eyes closed. Neil hummed a soft 'mphrt' to let Todd know he'd heard.

"N-Neil, if you don't get up, I'm going to get the dead poets and we're going to... I don't know what we'll do; but you won't like it!".  
  
That got Neil to crack open an eye, just one, to search Todd's pretty face and call his bluff. Todd had become comfortable with the other poets but no matter who it was he still had trouble asking for things. Neil closed his eye and cuddled his blanket closer. He heard Todd huff quietly and reached out to pull him onto the bed and trap him until the poets came looking. Neil's first grab missed and he grabbed awkwardly at the air. He opened an eye to check where his roommate had gone to. Turns out, Todd was halfway out the door ready to make good on his promise, idling in the doorway in concern over his roommates weird motions.   
  
"Neil...?"

Neil waggled his hand back and forth in a 'come hither' motion.   
So Todd came back to Neil's bedside... and...  
_  
snatched!_

Neil had flipped Todd from standing on the side, to laying in between himself and the wall. Neil's arms hung loosely around Todd's waist. A tiny voice inside him saying 'that was a bit much, what if he's uncomfortable now?'. Once again Neil cracked open an eye to look at his roommate. Surprised to find Todd's hands covering his flushed face and barely suppressing his giggles. Neil could have died right then and there with barely any regrets.

Unfortunately, they only got two more minutes of the roommate cuddle pile before the rest of the poets did come searching for their unusually late cohorts. A friendly and mischievous air between them as they strolled in in pairs. Todd emitted an embarrassed squeak, cheeks burning brighter by the second.   
  
"Good morning boys~" Charlie greeted. He raised his middle and pointer fingers to his ear. Knox noticed the action first and copied it quickly, soon every poet but the two still in bed had their fingers to an imaginary earpiece.  
  
" **GET DOWN MR.PRESIDENT!** " Charlie yelled. All the boys tackled the now fully awake Neil Perry. The weight of the grown boys all on one spot made the bed frame groan loud and low, until-

 ** _Crack_**  
  
Neil Perry's wooden bed snap in half.  
  
"Oops," laughed Pitts, causing a chain of laughter to erupt through the group.   
"What are you guys _doing_ in here?" Cameron complained as he walked through the door, "Shouldn't you guys be at breakfast?".  
  
The minute Neil heard Cameron's voice he resigned himself to being asleep for the rest of the day. Still chuckling lightly through a closed smile.   
  
"We're getting Neil out of bed dude", Knox wiggled out of the middle of the dog-pile and fell between Neil and Todd.   
  
"Stop screwing around guys, you're gonna get in trouble." Cameron huffed.

Cameron's chiding only made Pitts laugh harder, filling the room with laughter once more.  
"Maybe Neil would get up if you gave him a little kiss~" Charlie teased. Meeks snorted through tears.   
Knox started chanting, "Kiss the homies good morning! Kiss the homies good morning!" It didn't take long for the chant to catch on, everyone but Cameron, and a breathless Todd, yelling kiss the homies good morning.   
  
"Ugh, you guys are so weird." Cameron turned on his heel and stomped out of the dorm room.  
  
The chant died slowly after Cameron was too far away to come back for another word.  
  
Meeks looked down at his watch "Guys, we've got 15 minutes to replace this bed and eat breakfast. Maybe we should get moving?"  
  
"Why would we replace the bed? Better yet, **_how_** would we replace the bed?" Knox asked sarcastically.  
  
"Don't you remember what happened the last time the janitor found Pitts' bed broken? Poor Pittsy almost had his ass torn off" Charlie stared incredulously at Knox.  
  
"S'true..." Pitts groaned, sore just from the memory.

"I have some hot glue in my bag," Meeks reported, "We could glue the bed together and swap it for Cameron's; watch him sweat when he breaks it later".

The poets all took a moment to process the plan. Todd thought he had heard Meeks wrong, he seemed too nice to pull something like that.  
  
"Meeks you have the biggest brain of anyone I know. I love that idea!" Charlie laughed and pressed a kiss to Meeks forehead; before jumping up from the poet pile and sifting through Meeks' bag. "Alright boys, everybody up."   
Slowly but surely everyone got up. Everyone but Neil and Todd who was still stuck between Neil's arms.

"C-c'mon Neil," Todd nudged, "let's get up."   
Neil didn't say anything, but he did move his arms and let Todd pull him up.  
As soon as Neil was up, he was falling back down to the ground, fighting the urge to vomit. Todd leaned in to catch Neil but the momentum brought Todd down with him.

"Oh fuck- are you guys okay?" someone asked as Neil fell asleep again.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter so much, I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. The Dead Poet gang kinda feels to me like they would have a lot of internalized homophobia going on, but I don't wanna write about that rn so I might save it for a later fic. Next chapter will be a little bit of a sick fic, with the dead poets temporarily turning into the Protect Neil Perry squad. Wish they would've done that in the original movie, just heist him outta his house. A different old fic draft I have for the dead poets society has the boys all stow away on a train. Dunno where they would go, maybe the middle of a forrest. Build a cute little house out there. ANYWAYS <33333 hope you liked it/stay safe/stay hydrated.


End file.
